Crafty Cowgirls: Jessie Get Your Gun!

Last year, #1 on the Little Cowgirl's Xmas list was the talkin', yodelin', "Woody's Roundup" Jessie doll. She was thrilled to get it (and if we ever manage to find a Bullseye at retail price she might be getting him next Xmas) but soon began to ask me why Jessie didn't have a gun when Woody did. (Of course, not having the Woody doll, she didn't realize that Woody only has a holster and no gun!) The problem was solved when we had my Marx West Family girls out recently (Jane, Josie and Janice), she quickly assigned Jane's "peacemaker" gun to Jessie and when the West girls got put back in their box, the gun stayed out. See, it's actually the perfect size!

I dug through some felt scraps and found leftover brown wool felt (from making toy gingerbread cookies a few years ago) that was a close match for her belt, traced around the toy gun and drew up a quick holster pattern and then whipstitched it together with red embroidery floss. Threaded the loop through her belt and tacked it with a few stitches on the back of the holster and ta-da! I had one happy cowgirl.

If you've got a cowgirl doll in need of a holster, you'll just need some felt and floss (any color, although I'd stick with brown for the felt). If you have a Marx Peacemaker (or no gun at all), you can print out this pdf pattern I made (right click and save); if you have a different little gun, you can still use the pattern, but trace around your toy gun for the holster shape. Thread the long piece through the belt and then tack it down to the back of the holster, and trim off the excess. (Need a gun for your Jessie? There are reproduction Marx accessories available on ebay very cheap - here's a seller with great prices.)

Now if I can just figure out where Jessie can put the rifle....